Catching up

No, not on blogging. Way more glamorous than that. On laundry.

Seriously, I have done more loads of laundry this weekend than I care to count. And not just clothes, but bathmats and towels and all kinds of stuff.

This has been our first weekend home in a month, and on Thursday we jet off to Texas on what might be summed up as The Most Expensive Short Weekend We've Ever Had. Vegas doesn't count because we can expense that.

So in the meantime, since flag football practice starts with a vengeance this week, I have to get as much done today as I can so it's not all waiting for me Wednesday night. Did I mention our flight leaves at 6 AM on Thursday? Um, yeah.

*****

Speaking of catching up, Joey's college roommate Flash and his wife Debbie (and their 2 kids) were in town yesterday, so we enlisted a babysitter to watch the kids so we could go have a nice dinner. You know, one where no one is fighting over who is looking at someone cross-eyed or invading their personal space.

We all used to be pretty close. Pre-kids, we spent almost every weekend during football season together, and then we took a few trips together. Once the kids came, though, things change. They usually do.

It's not that I'm opposed to religion. Or anyone's religious views as long as they don't try to shove them down my throat or make me feel badly for not having the same views that they do. But honestly, I could go a whole lifetime without every conversation being dominated by religion. And that's how it's been with them for the past three years. Two years ago during their annual Manstravaganza four-wheeling trip, it was so bad that Joey came home wondering if he and Flash could still be friends.

I guess sometimes we outgrow our friends like an old, comfy t-shirt that finally shrinks up so much you can't wear it in public anymore. Sure, you can wear it in the yard or to lay around on a lazy day, but you don't wear it like you used to. It makes you feel uncomfortable.

I think that's where we're at with this friendship. It's not that we don't love them, and we certainly don't expect them to give up what they believe in. And it's not that we feel like everyone we know has to play beer pong with us. It's just...well, the religion talk is stifling. And uncomfortable.

Anyhow, it was a nice dinner and the food was great. The conversation, though, was awkward. So I'm not sure we'll be doing that again anytime soon.

*****

Another thing I need to catch up on is my reading. I ordered a book about my dad's World War II unit so that I could read it before we leave for Texas. Well, the sucker got here on Friday and I haven't cracked it open yet. I better get motivated....

*****

Last, but not least, I heard from an old high school friend yesterday. Long story short, Dave and I have known each other since probably 2nd grade. We dated a few months in high school and it just didn't work out - no hard feelings. We had a lot of classes together and he was always one of my favorite people (despite the fact that he was one of Mr. Magliaro's pets in trig class and I'm only mildly bitter about it since I barely skated by in there).

Back in January, I had gotten one of those silly emails from Classmates.com about someone signing my "guestbook". They totally suckered me in to paying for the membership so that I could see who it was. And it was Dave - and I didn't email him back.

Enter Facebook...he sent me a friend request and when I checked him out, his profile picture had him and three cute little boys. Okay, I felt better about responding. Is that shallow or what? We've been exchanging emails for the last 24 hours and it's been good to catch up. He has become pretty successful, as I figured he would. Happily married with three adorable sons. I'm really happy for him.

Will we talk again? Who knows. But it's kind of nice and fun to find out what happened to him. He was a great guy.

Now, who else will come creeping out of the woodwork from my past....